The End is Only the Beginning
by Nessa Ar-Fieneil
Summary: Eärlindë Slyath, High Elf mage of Oerth, just wanted one last adventure before retiring to a quiet peaceful life. What she got was a one way ticket to Krynn. Please Read and Review. I would like to know that actual people are reading this rather than internet bots.
1. Leaving Oerth

The End is Only the Beginning Chapter 1

After having fought their way through the catacombs, the party of intrepid adventurers finally entered the reached the inner sanctum. The party consisted of a ranger named Arash Caeless; a cleric named Solonna; a pair of mated Wood Elves; Daisy Cotton, a Halfling rogue; Eärlindë Sylath; a High Elf mage; and the pseudodragon Ashat. When they found Ashat's body under Castle Greyhawk they had been traveling with a druid. The druid cast reincarnate on her and Ashat changed from a human to a young adult Pseudodragon

"Are you sure you still want to do this?" said Eärlindë. "We can still turn back, but once we walk through that door, I am not sure we will be able to. I do not know very much about the artifacts that we seek. The information I have been able to obtain indicates we will be able to trap Iuz with in his own lands, perhaps even trap him the same way Zagig trapped him before. Maybe we can fix the god trap and lock Iuz up for good this time. On the other hand, the information I have could be false and we could end up with something a lot worse than Iuz."

"After we stopped his invasion plans, freed Lord Robilar and cleared his name, Iuz had made it his personal mission to destroy not just us, but everything and everyone we care about," said Arash. "Let's finish this."

"I'm for doing a lot worse to him if we can," said Daisy.

The other two nodded in agreement. Daisy checked the door, disarmed the trap and unlocked it. They entered into a triangular room. At each corner was a pedestal and on that pedestal a platinum coin. Solonna cast detect magic: the coins glowed, but did not give off a specific school of magic.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Solonna.

"So do I," Agreed Eärlindë.

After thoroughly examining one of the items and the pedestal itself, Daisy picked up one of the coins and tried to identify it with her monocle of perusal. She could not identify it. Eärlindë cast Analyze Dweomer on one of the coins. As she did, a single name appeared on the coin: Thrazadun. Before Eärlindë could give a warning, the small coin struck her in the chest them, and then merged with her body. Before she lost consciousness, she saw the second coin hit Solonna, and the third hit Daisy.

Somewhere on another plane of existence, four deities met. One arrived in human form. Two arrived in elvish form, one male the other female. The fourth arrived as a dragon with platinum scales. These were Olidammara, Corellon Larethian, Sehanine Moonbow and Bahumat. Bahumat quickly took the form of a human in plate "This is quite the predicament our respective followers have gotten themselves into," said Olidammara

"That would be the understatement of the age," said Corellon. "Now what do we do? The others are demanding we do whatever it takes to prevent them from reuniting the artifact. "

"In order to release Thrazadun the three artifacts must attach them selves to mortals in the service of good; one mage, one priest, and one with no magic. It must then absorb the essence of a demigod," said Bahumat. "No matter what we say or do you know Iuz is going to go after those three personally. I hope it did not escape your notice the only ones pushing for oblivion were Gruumsh, Lolth, Tiamat, Vecna and Nerull,"

"Nerull, right, Maxin's Keep. How many of Nerull's priests did they get when they sacked his temple?" asked Olidammara

"Not nearly enough. They were considerably more thorough when they took out Vecna's two temples and foiled his kidnapping plot," said Sehanine Moonbow.

"Baccob recommended taking each to another world, then binding them, their souls and by extension the piece of the artifact they carry, to that world," said Corellon. "I think this is for the best. Sehanine and I will take Solonna and Arash to Toril."

"I will take her to Kalamar. There I am known as Risk," said Olidammara. "I suppose you will take Eärlindë to Krynn."

"Even if it means she is never going to see Feravon again," said Bahumat. Corellon gave him a look. "Given that they were planning on saying their vows before he was killed, and go from handfasted to wed I was planning on giving her back, as long as she did not enter into a new relationship. You could let me take him with me to Krynn. You are taking both Arash and Solonna to Toril where you have and aspect."

"No, we are already cutting five threads from the fabric of Oerth's tapestry. I dare not risk a sixth," said Corellon. "I gave him the option of being resurrected and making his way to Krynn via spell jammer, he declined. I have severed their bond. She will be free to pursue a new life on Krynn. It is best she leaves her old one behind."

"What about her son?" asked Sehanine.

"Thoiravel is a follower of Bahumat like his mother and captains a spelljammer. Let his choices determine his fate," said Corellon.

Author's Note: I know not everyone sees Paladine and Bahumat as the same deity, but many do. I am one of them. I for one would love to see Paladine revived in Dragonlance someday. On reincarnate roll 100 DM's choice Spell Jammers are ships that travel between worlds. Each world has it's own sphere. This sphere contains the world, it's version of the Prime Material Plane, the various celesetial bodies that cohabit that plane with it. The Inner Planes which for the most part are standard from world to world the Four Elemental Planes, The Plane of Shadows the Astral Plane, The Positive Energy Plane and the Negative Energy Plane. It is in the Outer Planes that worlds vary from one world to the next. To my knowledge Krynn has three outer planes The Vault of Creation, The Hidden Vale and The Abbys. Oerth is much more complicated. Oerth's outer planes are collectively known as the Great Wheel. The list starts with Elysium in the twelve o'clock position and working out way around to Bytopia. The Outlands is in the center and underneath the Prime Material Plane and the Inner Planes.

Elysium (Blessed Fields) Neutral Good

The Beastlands (Happy Hunting Grounds) Neutral good / Chaotic good

Arboria (Arvandor) Chaotic good

Ysgard (Heroic Domains) Chaotic neutral / Chaotic good

Limbo (Plane of Ever-Changing Chaos) Chaotic neutral

Pandemonium (Plane of Windswept Depths) Chaotic evil / Chaotic neutral

The Abyss (Plane of Infinite Layers) Chaotic evil

Carceri (Tartarus)Neutral evil / Chaotic evil

The Gray Waste (Hades) Neutral evil

Gehenna (Plane of Bleak Eternity) Neutral evil / Lawful evil

Baator Hell (The Nine Hells) Lawful evil

Acheron (The Infernal Battlefield) Lawful neutral / Lawful evil

Mechanus (Nirvana) Lawful neutral

Arcadia (Plane of Peaceable Kingdoms) Lawful neutral / Lawful good

Mount Celestia (The Seven Heavens) Lawful good

Bytopia (Twin Paradises) Neutral good / Lawful good

The Outlands (Plane of Concordant Opposition True Neutral

Now each crystal sphere floats in The Phlogiston. This is the space between worlds. The only way between spheres is via ships called Spelljammers. The ones I know about are Grey Space, Realm Space and Krynn Space. Grey Space is Greyhawk. Realm Space is Forgotten Realms. Krynn Space is Dragonlance.


	2. Arriving on Krynn

The End is Only the Beginning Chapter Two

When Eärlindë woke next, she was lying on a comfortable bed in a nondescript room that appeared to have four other humans in it. There were three males and one female. One male was wearing armor, while the other three were in robes. One in white, one in red and one in black, the female was the one in the red robes. She found that she was unable to speak or move. She felt Ashat next to her. She heard Ashat's voice in her mind.

"Be calm," she heard Ashat's voice in her mind. "Lord Bahumat is here. Only he is called Paladine where we are going. The man in the white robes is his son Solinari. The lady in red is his niece Lunitari. The Man in black is his nephew Nuitari. That would be Tiamat's son only she's called Takhisis here."

"Why do I feel a closer bond with you?" Eärlindë asked.

"Pseudodragons have short lives, even shorter than humans: ten to fifteen years. Lord Bahumat offered to make me human again or if I chose to give up my own powers to be your familiar."

"I assume you chose the latter," replied Earlinde.

"I did. I will be able to use your magic items and your magic. I will also have your life span," replied Ashat. "Not an entirely bad trade-off. Now be quiet and pay attention."

"Father, I know she belonged to your aspect from her home world, however she is a mage. As such she is rightfully mine," said Solinari.

"Says who? We do not know for certain where she will end up," replied Nuitari. "There is darkness in her heart as well as light."

"I know you have been looking for the perfect weapon to use against your mother, and you think it is a black robed elf," said Paladine. "However she willingly gave her heart to me, I will not allow you to interfere with her test."

"What do we do in the mean time, let a renegade run free on Krynn?" asked Solinari

"She has loved your father all of her adult life. Would you accept her if she fully changed allegiances to you so quickly?" asked Lunitari. "I would not."

"The question is what do we do about her primal sorcery?" asked Nuitari. "Let unchecked it could upset the balance of magic."

"She comes from a world where primal sorcery is not and never has been a problem. Her magic is quite stable especially since it is intertwined with and bound by her high sorcery," said Paladine. "At the moment we cannot remove one without harming the other. So let her keep them with some stipulations. For now she is awake and listening to us."

"How long have you been hiding that from us?" demanded Nuitari.

Paladine did not reply. He merely went over to Eärlindë to help her up. Then he picked up Ashat and allowed the little dragon to ride on his shoulders.

"Bahumat?" Eärlindë asked tentatively.

"Yes child, but you must call me Paladine here," he replied.

"Where is here? Where are my friends? What happened?" she asked.

"You are on Krynn. I believe your son has told something about it," said Paladine.

"I have been here a couple of times on a three day pass. I understand some of the basics: no dragons, no clerics, absentee gods, and color-coded wizardry. How wonderful. So when do I get my 'I am a wizard please shoot me' robe?" asked Eärlindë calmly. "Can I go back to Oerth?"

"Child, you and your friends stumbled upon a three-part artifact of Thrazadun," Paladine told her. He watched Earlinde's face pale. "One piece embedded itself in your friend Solonna, another into your friend Daisy, and the last in you. In order to keep the artifact from activating and freeing Thrazadun, the three of you had to be separated. Solonna and Arash were taken to Toril. Daisy was taken to Kalamar. You and Ashat were brought here. The artifact was bound to your soul as well as your body. Your bond with Feravon has been severed. You will not be reunited with him either in this life or the next. There is no path between Arvandor and the Vault of Creation."

"What is the Vault of Creation?" asked Eärlindë.

"That would be my realm in the outer planes." Paladine replied gently. He held Eärlindë while she cried. Though it had been fourteen years since his death, Eärlindë's grief was suddenly as fresh as if it had been yesterday.

Eärlindë first met Feravon while apprenticing with Feravon's father, an elf wizard named Ansron. Feravon's mother was a half-elf bard named Amawyn. They became immediately infatuated with one another, however Eärlindë left after her apprenticeship ended. Some years later they both headed the call to duty and joined with the army of elven archers sent to aid the humans against the Temple of Elemental Evil. It was here they fell in love. After the battle of Emridy Meadows, they settled down and started a life together and had a son, Thoiravel. Though they had not yet formally said their vows, there was no societal pressure to do so either. They lived a good life together until the Greyhawk Wars started. Thoiravel was left with Feravon's parents as both Eärlindë and Feravon were called into service. Feravon served as a medic and Eärlindë served as a combat mage in an airborne unit. Feravon was killed in the Battle against the Scarlet Brotherhood in the last year of the war. Eärlindë went home to her son. She would not leave again until he was old enough to go out on his own.

"Your friends will find new homes and lives. I hope you come to regard Krynn as your home," Paladine said to her.

"Father, I hope you are not considering taking her in. We already have enough trouble with your sister and her grey robes, or will soon," said Solinari.

"You are once again assuming she will end up in your order. We saw her memories. Did you see the grim satisfaction she took in making that guard explode, the sardonic smile as she turned to the survivors and asked 'Who's next'?" asked Nuitari.

"I did. I also saw how she was prepared to let them surrender and leave in peace, if they spared the hostages. Only after the captain gave the order, "hold them off, kill the prisoners" did she go for the kill. I felt the fear that nearly froze her heart as one of the guards opened a cell door and started in. I felt her relief as she managed to stop him with a single spell as well as her concern over the still open cell door she could not reach. When the last guard fell, her joy was not from their deaths, but from the fact that none of the hostages had been killed," replied Solinari.

"I think we get the point already," said Lunitari. "What about her primal sorcery? She is what is called a magus on her home world. On Krynn I believe this would allow her high sorcery to stabilize her primal sorcery as long as her primal sorcery did not exceed her high sorcery."

"The two are almost entirely intertwined. If we cut one we risk cutting the other," Solinari observed.

"So we allow it," said Nuitari. "With the proper limitations and precautions she could make the hidden dagger we need against my mother."

"What do you suggest?" asked Paladine.

"She is to use her primal sorcery as little as possible. Keep it reserved for when it is absolutely necessary to use it or when using this augmented casting magus ability of hers. The fewer people who know about her primal sorcery, the better. I would prefer that knowledge not go beyond the heads of the three orders, and under no circumstances is she to teach primal sorcery to anyone else," suggested Nuitari

"I think that those who need to know should be allowed to know. She should not be forced to keep secrets from those she travels with and trusts," protested Solinari. "If it becomes necessary to teach others primal sorcery she should be free to do so."

"Keep it to only the most trusted of those she travels with and only at dire need is she to be allowed to teach primal sorcery," Nuitari relented

"She is not to allow her primal sorcery to exceed her high sorcery," said Lunitari.

"You have heard the conditions. Will you comply?" asked Paladine.

"I will," replied Eärlindë.

"There is one gift I give to you. You have powerful items that you brought with you from Oerth, most of them which, you found under the ruins of Zagig's castle. Any item you brought with you from Oerth that must be activated with a command word, spell trigger or item trigger will not respond to anyone other than you or Ashat. Also, if you must be a spell caster to benefit from it, the item will not function for anyone else. I do this mainly because there are those here I do not want getting their hands on Zagig's staff. The side effect of this is, items brought from Oerth are the only magic items that will ever function for you. Speaking of function, the apprentice ring that isn't supposed to function outside the castle will function for you as long as you have the staff you found down there on you as well. You know the one you took off? the Simulacrum of Iggwilv."

"You just think the command word is funny," complained Solinari.

"Just be grateful the worst thing your parents ever do is embarrass you, they have never betrayed you," retorted Nuitari.

Author's Note: Elves of Oerth are much different from those of Krynn, especially when it comes to love and marriage. Elves of Oerth engage in long term romantic relationships and children of those relationships bear no stigma. Courtship between elves takes at least a decade or so and marriage is a century's long commitment. Elves will sometimes marry humans, but the fifty or so years such a union might list last is a pleasant interlude. Elves who lose their spouses to death are free to remarry if they choose and arraigned arranged marriages are extremely rare as such unions are diametrically opposed to the ideal of individual freedom. For more information see Races of the Wild. Basically elves from Krynn would view elves from Oerth as hedonistic and Oerthian elves would view Krynnian elves as rigid. Both sides would say "Are you elves or humans?"


	3. The Tower

The End is Only the Beginning chapter three

Three humans and an elf appeared just outside of Wayreth having arrived by Teleport. The female human was wearing red robes, one of the males was wearing white and the other wearing black. The elf was wearing a knee length khaki tunic over khaki leggings, and over this she wore a forester's cloak made of alternating patches of green and brown canvas. They sent a message to the master of the tower seeking admittance. They had found a wizard from off world stranded on Krynn with no means of returning to her home world. The Conclave was rather familiar with spelljammers, ships that could travel between worlds. One such vessel was called the Silver Dragon. Her entire compliment of officers and crew were either elves or half elves from one of four worlds including Krynn. The Silver Dragon would occasionally bring raw iron from Oerth to Krynn to trade it for gold. This trade was done through the conclave.

The master of the tower, Par-Salian, came to greet them and admit them to the tower. He curious as to why it took three fully trained wizards to bring in one renegade. Though with renegades he supposed it was better safe than sorry. He was not sure what was more dangerous: the native born Krynn mage who was a renegade by choice, or the off world mage who just didn't know better. At least with the latter if you couldn't reason with them, you could send them home. Many off world mages just wanted what was referred to as a "three day pass" to decompress and recover from cabin fever aboard ship and were willing to pay for it in raw iron. Three bars of iron, a promise to limit spell casting to basic utility and defense, and they had to be back aboard ship in three days.

"Would you mind indulging an old man's curiosity and tell me why it took three fully trained wizards to bring in one renegade?" asked Par-Salian.

"It didn't, but my two brothers have a bet going on as to which order she is going to end up in. The loser buys the winner a case of elven moondrop," said the female in the red robes. "Speaking of which, has the Silver Dragon made a stop here lately? I know she always has a small cargo of the stuff."

"The Silver Dragon left port a week ago and will not return for another year," Par-Salian informed them. "Ladonna is on good terms with one of her officers, Reeve Duskblade. Oh I forgot, the young half-elf just took over as captain. His predecessor retired last month. I believe introductions would be in order."

"I am Eleanor. The one in the white robes is my brother Murlynd and the one is the black robe's is my brother Rary," Eleanor told him. "The elf is Eärlindë Sylath, lately of Oerth."

"Thoiravel was here?" asked Eärlindë. When Par-Salion looked at her strange she continued "The one you called Reeve Duskblade. My son Thoiraval goes by the name Reeve Duskblade."

"Young Reeve was talking about returning home to Oerth to visit his widowed mother. He told me his father was killed…"

"In the Greyhawk wars at the battle of Celene Pass," Eärlindë interrupted. "I lost Feravon to a disintegrate ray while I was off flying a combat mission and he was working as a field medic."

"Reeve is going to be disappointed when he gets home. Why don't you come inside and tell me how you ended up on Krynn," Par-Salian said gently.

"About that," said Murlynd. "I think we need to speak with the heads of all three orders in an informal setting if possible."

"As soon as possible," added Rary.

"It is really important that this be done discreetly and privately," added Eleanor.

It took some convincing, but Par-Salian sent off for Ladonna and Justarius. While they waited the other three spoke privately.

"Rary? Did you really have to go with that?" asked Nuitari.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Lunitari.

"I would have preferred Robilar, at least he did not betray his friends," protested Nuitari.

"Oh you mean the crazy fighter who solo dungeon crawls in Zagig's funhouse," retorted Solinari. "I do not know what Baccob was thinking elevating that mad mage to demigod status. The uncaring is most certainly an apt title for him."

"He criticizes us for being too controlling," replied Lunitari.

"Actually, Baccob does care about something, magic. He is the one who organized locking Tharazidun in that pocket demiplane prison he is in. Tharazidun, lunatic deity of Oerth, his desire is nothing short of the ultimate destruction of everything that is, was, and will be, including him. The reaction from Baccob was something akin to, "You found something I care about. Congratulations, here's your prize: an eternity imprisoned in your own private demiplane beyond the confines of the multiverse."

This had the three gods of magic laughing.

"Unfortunately his cultists are not no laughing matter. In attempts to free their dark master they perform rites unspeakable even by the standards of other evil deities," she informed them.

They instantly sobered, even Nuitari.

"That explains why many visitors from Oerth have a hard time taking my followers seriously," Nuitari commented dryly. "They have become desensitized toward evil."

She told them about the Book of Vile Darkness, the Hand and Eye of Vecna, the Tabard of the Disembodied, the Executioner's Hood, the Chromatic Rod, and the Chain of Obeisance. The story about the Tome of the Stilled Tongue made even Nuitari a little queasy, especially since it was a spell book. Pure anger and hatred radiated of Eärlindë as she told them about the Shield of the Hand and how it came to be.

"Of course there is the story about the head of Vecna. No, it is not a real artifact. It was a scam designed by some bard and some stupid adventuring party fell for it," she told them. "It could be entirely apocryphal because there are multiple versions of it out there. However the one I am familiar with goes like this."

Eärlindë told them the story about the Head of Vecna scam. This adventuring party had heard rumors about a powerful artifact called the Head of Vecna. A local bard claimed to have a map to the artifact's location so they bought it from him. When they found it one of the party members tried to have his head replaced with the fake head. Since it was a fake, obviously it did not work. They went back to the bard and the bard told them they obviously did not put the head on fast enough. So another party member tried it with the same results. By then the bard was long gone. The adventurers could not get their friends raised because their respective deities had deemed them too stupid to live. This had both Nuitari and Lunitari laughing. Solinari just leaned his head against his hand and closed his eyes as if he could not believe anyone would be stupid enough for fall for that hoax. They looked up to see Par-Salian, Ladonna and Justarius trying not to laugh and give away their presence.

"We didn't want to interrupt," said Par-Salian.

"Admit it, you wanted to hear the "Head of Vecna" story as much as I did," said Justarius. "Sometimes I wonder if that story really happened. No two people ever tell it the exact same way."

"I certainly enjoyed hearing it again," admitted Ladonna, closing the door behind them. After she cast Private Sanctum she asked, "Now what is so important that you required all three of us?"

"Please sit down, what we have to tell you will be a bit difficult to understand," said Murlynd. Once the others were seated he revealed himself to be Solinari. "My father brought her here from Oerth. She is a worshiper of his aspect over there and has gotten herself into a bit of trouble."

"Define "a bit" said Par-Salion Par-Salian, regaining his composure and wishing he had not told the other two about the bet.

"She cannot return to her home world," said Nuitari as he and Lunitari revealed their true nature.

"Please tell me this bet of yours was just a part of your cover story," said Lodonna sardonically.

"Sadly, no," said Lunitari. "They were acting like first year apprentices trying impress another female student the entire way here! You would think they had never seen a primal sorcerer before!"

Solinari gave a bit of a sheepish smile and Nuitari flashed an unrepentant grin.

"A what?" asked Justarius.

"Oerth allows both prepared and spontaneous casting." said Solinari. He explained what she could do and why they could not do anything to take away or suppress her primal sorcery. He told them what had happened to her. He explained why she had been brought to Krynn and why she could never leave.

"Fun and games with metamagics, being able to apply metamagic feats to one's spells without preparing it ahead of time, increasing the spell level, or casting time," said Nuitari. "Quite the tactical advantage, though the trade-off is you burn two spells at once and you will never get to the most powerful spells."

"So you will be staying on Krynn permanently. I know this is not your first time here, but staying is not the same as visiting. You are in for a bit of a culture shock," Ladonna said gently. "I understand where you come from humans and elves actually have rational relations."

"It depends on the individual human or human land," said Eärlindë. "Humanity is the source of Oerth's most noble heroes and its vilest villains. One thing you can say for humans, they tend to put down their own rabid dogs."

"Excuse me," stated Ladonna.

"Shall I tell you about the horrors the Temple of Elemental Evil inflicted upon the Village of Homlet and the sounding area? It took an alliance of the men from Furyondy and Veluna, dwarves from Lortmils, gnomes from the Korn Hills, and elves from my home in the Gnarley Forest to stop them. Or how about the The atrocities committed by the Empire of Iuz in the Greyhawk wars? Far too many lives were cut short on the altars of Vecna and Nerull. Shall I tell you of those I have fought side by side with against such evil? Shall I tell you about the kindness and gentleness of Brother Martin, or the faithfulness of the Valiant Paladin Thase? There are others whose names I can no longer remember, only their noble deeds still linger in my memory."

"Such an advocate humanity would have in you to the Qualinesti and the Sylvanesti. The only problem is, would they listen?" said Par-Salian.

"There is one more thing. There are some conditions we have placed on letting her keep her primal sorcery," explained Lunitari.

"Are you telling us this because you want use to help ensure these conditions are met?" asked Justarius.

"To assist, or to enforce if necessary," said Lunitari. "The first one is she must take and pass the test of High Sorcery. Upon completion she is expected to enter one of the orders. She will need some retraining in order to qualify. She is to be careful in the use of her primal sorcery. We would prefer it if she limited its use to augmenting her high sorcery or fuelling the staff she carries. No one is to be told of her primal sorcery except on a strict need to know basis. She is not to teach primal sorcery to another unless it becomes absolutely necessary. She is not to allow her primal sorcery to surpass her high sorcery."

"I see," said Ladonna. "Would you care to define necessary?"

"That will depend on whose order she ends up in," said Solinari. "If keeping the restrictions causes more harm than lifting them."

"I would define it as what helps maintain the balance in the magic," said Lunitari.

"Option of last resort, or if needed to deal with my mother's mechanisms," said Nuitari.

Author's Note

Yes Solinari did a face palm

There are nearly as many races in the Gnarley Forest (yes it really is spelled that way) as there are in the rest of the Flanaess (the major continent on Oerth), though only a handful are unique to the forest. Primarily the sentient races include (in decreasing order of population):

Human (and various human-hybrid races including half-elf and half-orc)

Orc

Elf

Halfling

Goblin

Gnome

Dwarf

Troll

Centaur

Ogre

Giant

Dragons


	4. The Conclave

The End is Only the Beginning Chapter 4

It was not often that the full conclave met. Other than for routine meetings, it was rarely for anything pleasant. As eighteen wizards entered the meeting hall they all had the same question on their mind. What happened this time? What was so urgent that all of them had to come? As the wizards who constituted the conclave entered, it was apparent that the vast majority of them were human. There was at least one elf in all three of the orders. The male elf in black robes and the female elf in red robes had been cast out as dark elves. There were two elves among the white robes, one Silvanesti, and one Qualinesti. They were both female.

"I suppose you wonder why we have summoned all of you here," began Par-Salian. "There is a rather accomplished young mage from Oerth who has been permanently stranded on our world and seeks addition into our order."

"She is one hundred and forty," said Ladonna. "I hardly call that young."

"For an elf that is still relatively young, but not overly so," said the Silvanesti elf. "Please tell me she is one of their grey elves and not one of their wood elves, high elves or even worse a wild elf."

The elves on the conclave were the ones who dealt with the elves who came from other worlds on spell jammers.

"And if she came in on a spell jammer, why were we not notified first?" asked the Qualinesti elf.

"She did not come here via spelljammer. She was brought here. How and why I am not at liberty to say," said Par-Salian. "Though to be honest, I do not understand how or why she was brought here. She insists she has seen Paladine since coming here. She has been here for a year retraining so she can qualify to take the test."

"Why are we just now being notified, and why has the entire conclave been convened?" asked the elven black robe.

"She uses both High Sorcery and Primal Sorcery," said Par-Salian. "Also, given how different the world she came from is, and how different her life experiences have been, it is difficult to come up with a test."

"Primal Sorcery - there is a reason that was banned," said the elf in red robes. "It upsets the balance of magic.

"Her High Sorcery and Primal Sorcery are intertwined so closely that even the gods of magic could not pry them apart. Believe me, they tried," said Justarius. "She is what on her home world is called a Magus. They not only use both prepared and spontaneous casting, they blend it using one to fuel the other. In her case one stabilizes the other. I have seen her use this augmented casting ability. While her war-mage spells do not wear her out the way her wizard spells do, when she uses one to fuel the other it wears our her out faster than when casting wizard spells alone. She is in essence using two spells at once."

"What do you mean, war mage spells?" asked a human male in red robes.

"In Oerth apparently warmages spontaneously cast arcane spells and can do so while wearing light armor and carrying light shields," said Ladonna. "Before you ask, yes she has a chain shirt and a buckler especially made where she can cast both war-mage and wizard spells without risk of failure."

"I understand her wanting to keep them as mementos of her life on Oerth, but it's time for them to be put away. Wizards do not use armor, carry shields or use weapons other than a dagger or a staff," insisted a male white robe.

"You can be the one to tell her that. She carries a merciful elvencraft longbow that she will not part with," said Par-Salian. "I am inclined to let her keep it."

"What does elvencraft mean?" the other wizard asked the elves present.

None of them knew and one replied that it had to be an Oerth thing.

"It doubles as a quarterstaff," said Par-Salian.

"Cute," replied another wizard.

"I think our bow makers would want to get their hands on that to copy it," said the Silvanesti.

"So would ours," replied the Qualinesti.

"Fine, whoever gets her first will have copies of the bow sent to the other as soon as they are made," said the Silvanesti.

"Agreed," replied the Qualinesti.

Par-Salian told the rest of the conclave what they knew about her. After he finished, he then explained why he had summoned everyone. "The issue here is that we need to get her through The Test of High Sorcery, however, what sort of test do we pose?"

"Do you have a list of the spells she knows?" asked one of the white robes.

"We have prepared several copies of the spells all of the spells she is capable of casting. There are a few we have never seen before. The list includes a brief description of those spells, and any other spell beyond the list of commonly known spells," said Justarius. "This was facilitated by one of the spells she brought with her: a minor spell called amanuensis. It's a cantrip that copies text. There is a more powerful version of this spell in her spell book that can be used to copy spells from spellbooks. We used this to make three copies of her spellbook for the library here in Wayreth."

This got everyone's attention. Each member was given a list of the spells and their description. The next half hour was spent studying the list. The heads of the three orders noticed that everyone was making personal notes on their copy of the list.

"I have a suggestion," said the dark elf black robe. "Use an illusion to simulate tracking down a ring of slave traders. After the rest of his henchmen are dead, the ringleader surrenders and is taken prisoner. Make sure she has both disintegrate and smoky confinement memorized for this test. After the Rangers have him securely bound make sure the fool cannot keep his mouth shut. Have him run his mouth about how he has an understanding with the local magistrate. That he'll be a free man as soon as they leave town. That is if they are able to make it out of town alive."

"Killing a helpless prisoner is exactly what got you expelled from the white robes all the way into the black robes and labeled a dark elf," said the Qualinesti elf.

"As I was saying, what she does in that moment should determine the final outcome of her test. Which spell does she use: disintegrate, or smoky confinement? If she uses smoky confinement what does she do with the bottle," continued the dark elf.

"Why do you suggest this course of action?" asked Par-Salian.

"From what you told us of her life on Oerth, if slavery is not the thing she despises the most it is certainly on the top ten list. Also, I have spoken to a few elves from Oerth and Toril. I do not think any of us will ever understand the depth of the blood feud between the elves of that world and the race they call orcs," said the dark elf.

"You can always identify the elves from off world. They are the ones who double over laughing when we call those two dark elves," the Qualinesti commented dryly.

"I like the suggestion, however I would like to question her in person first," said the female red robe elf.

Eärlindë was sent for. When she entered the room she was wearing a green dress; her circlet of rapid casting; her belt of many pockets; I one pair of gloves, one of which was her casting glove; her ring of wizardry 1 and carrying her handy haversack. The rest of her possessions were tucked away in her belt of many pockets, her haversack, or in her secret chest. Her familiar Ashat was at her side.

"Before you are given the Test of High Sorcery, the members of the conclave would like to ask you a few questions," said Par-Salian. Eärlindë nodded.

"How do you view our order's ban on armor, restrictions on weapons, and robe requirements," asked a male in red robes.

"The formal ban of use on physical armor is pointless. Most wizards lack the ability to effectively wear physical armor. Physical armor comes with restrictions and draw backs drawbacks that spells like mage armor, greater mage armor, or a good set of bracers of armor don't have. Even if the armor does not make casting arcane spells more difficult there is always the weight to consider."

"I own a chain shirt I can safely cast wizard spells in, however, it weighs twelve and a half pounds. I found wearing it useful when I did not want to be immediately identified and targets as the party wizard. While exploring some ruins I managed to find some bracers of armor that are more effective, protected against incorporeal beings, and weigh less than half what the chain shirt does."

"The only weapons Oreth's wizards can use that you ban are crossbow and clubs. When you limit wizards to the quarterstaff or dagger, you fail to take into account people who rely more on dexterity than they do on strength. Such persons would be better off with a light cross bow crossbow than a quarterstaff or dagger weapons they would have no hope of hitting anything or any one anyone with.. Melf's Slumbering Arrow, excuse me Slumbering Arrow, is a very useful spell, however it can only be used in conjunction with a long bow longbow or a short bow. The spell whirling blade, while it can be used with any slashing weapon is best used with a longsword," she replied.

"Interesting, however using a weapon as the focus for a spell and using it as a weapon are two different things," countered one wizard. "Furthermore crossbows are a distance weapon, and not terribly useful in a melee or close-quarters combat, which is where you are most likely to need a physical defense right now and not have time to cast a spell or run away."

Eärlindë looked at the wizard and calmly said, "Life isn't that simple. I have been in combat situations where I needed a ranged attack and I had no offensive spells left. You don't run and leave your friends behind just because in a predicament just because you run out of spells!"

"You should have been more careful with your spells," replied the wizard.

Eärlindë favored him with an icy glare. If looks could kill, this wizard would have dropped dead on the spot. She regained her composure and continued.

"One last thing: have you considered alterative alternative clothing items to those, I'm a wizard please shoot me robes? They are well and good for ceremonial purposes and wearing indoors, but for out door outdoor activities there has to be a better alternative, if only for safety's sake. We would be here until dawn if I were to list all the potential hazards of formal ankle length wizard robes," she concluded.

"Where do you stand on neutrality" asked the Silvanesti elf.

"I am completely neutral on neutrality. If they are going to be neutral toward me, I don't see why I shouldn't return the favor," Eärlindë said in jest. This had every human and half the elves laughing.

"To be honest, I consider than that a personal choice that no one should be penalized for. Neutrality comes in three forms. The first form is those dedicated to maintaining the balance between good and evil. The second is those who have removed themselves from the struggle between good and evil to pursue some other cause such as law, chaos, nature, magic, or learning. The third is those who are indifferent to the struggle between good and evil. These people would risk their lives to protect those they care able and go out of their way to help them in need. Unlike a good person, they would not be so willing to do so for a stranger," she replied.

"As long as we aren't going into lawful stupid or chaotic stupid territory I tend to take a live and let life view with people who choose neutrality. To be honest, things are a little different on Oerth. There are people I knew on Oerth who maintain neutrality there, who if they came here would be forced in one direction or the other."

"What alignment would you consider yourself?" asked the elf in red robes.

"Good. I have a firmly ingrained sense of right and wrong. I have fought in the struggle between good and evil. The struggle between freedom and oppression is one that is just as important to me. Tyranny instituted for the good of the oppressed is still tyranny, and the oppressors will torment their victims without end for they will do so with a clear conscience," This statement took several moments to process. Finally, after more questioning, they had the information they needed for the test.

Author's notes

Definitions from sourcebooks for those of you who are not players

Elvencrafted: a modification to longbows and short bows designed by elves to make them sturdy enough to endure melee combat. Longbows with this modification function as quarterstaffs. Short bows with this modification function as clubs. This was introduced in the sourcebook Races of the Wild.

Ring of Wizardry 1 doubles first level arcane spell slots. Basically if your character can prepare and cast and/or spontaneously cast arcane spells it doubles the number of first level spell slots he or she has available. This does not affect bonus spells granted by school or attribute bonus, referenced in the Dungeons Master's guide under wonderous items.

Heward's Handy Haversack (or on Krynn mearly handy haversack) is basically an rucksack with three compartments each of which are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside. The center holds up to 80 lbs, each side holds up to 20 lbs. No matter how much you put in it it always weighs 5 lbs and the item you want will always come to the top. This item is from the Dungeon Master's guide

Bracers of Armor are what people who can't wear armor and can afford them use instead of armor. They are classified as wondrous items. They come in 8 numbered types the higher the number the better the protection 1 = padded armor 2 = leather armor 3= studded leather armor 4= a chain shirt 5 =chain mail 6 = splint mail 7= half plate 8= full plate. Unlike actual armor they do not decrease the effectiveness of a high dexterity toward your abilty to dodge attacks and they defend against the attacks of incorproal creatures which go right through physical armor

Comment by my beta reader chisscientist "Entertaining to see Silvanesti and Qualinesti agree on something for once!" I agree

"I agree, given the number of times Raistlin tripped over his own robes during Chronicles" to this comment I would like to add the time his robes nearly drug in down so that Sturm was half dragging him, half carrying him


	5. The Test

The End is Only the Beginning 5

For Eärlindë, it had been a long hard fight against the slave traders. The horrors she saw in her camp reminded her of some of the things she saw when her adventuring party took out that cell of Vecna cultists. The rangers found the ring leader and took him prisoner.

"Don't look so smug. You aren't the first slave trader I have handed over to the hangman, and you won't be the last," she said. "One way or another, I will make sure you swing for this."

"The magistrate and I have an understanding. If you try to hang around too long, you might be the one who gets led to the hangman," boasted the slave trader.

For a moment Eärlindë considered hitting him with disintegrate and scattering the dust to the four winds. However, she pulled a crystal vial from her belt of many pockets and walked over to the slave trader.

"I'll just wait until a more honest magistrate can be found to turn you in to. In the meantime, say hello to your new home," she said showing him the crystal vial.

As Eärlindë began chanting in draconic, she reached out and touched the slave trader. His body turned from flesh and blood into smoke and was immediately sucked into the crystal vial. Once this was done, she placed the stopper in the vial and sealed it with wax. The illusion lifted, the rangers disappeared to reveal the heads of the three orders.

"You were considering hitting him with disintegrate," said Ladonna.

"I was also considering wringing his neck with my bare hands," replied Eärlindë. "I'm good, I'm not perfect. Regardless of alignment everyone has the potential to do good or evil within them. Potential only becomes reality depending on which choices we make."

"What would you do if the results of your test landed you in the red or black robes?" asked Ladonna.

"Going renegade is not an option. That has been made blatantly clear to me. I would try to appeal the decision. Please do not take any offense to this, but I would walk away from magic before I took up the black robe of Nuitari.

"Do you value your alignment more than you do magic?" asked Par-Salian.

"What is the point of having magic, if you lose all that you are to gain it?" she replied.

After some deliberation, it was decided to admit her into the Order of High Sorcery as a white robe. After that, it was a matter of some debate between the Silvanesti elf and the Qualinesti elf which realm she should go to. It was a debate Eärlindë watched with much amusement. Because it could be argued that House Mystic had the best resources to teach her Krynn's history and teach her how to speak Magius, she agreed to travel there for a period of time.

Author's notes comments from my beta reader

Nice example of taking a third option when presented with a nasty choice. Well done!

Who we are depends on the choices we make.


End file.
